High Achievers Conference inspires Senior Students

OneSchool’s High Achievers’ Seminar was held on September 16 at Qudos Bank Arena in students from Years 10-12. The
purpose of the event was to inspire and inform business leaders and budding employees
about the secrets to success. The occasion also gave students the opportunity to network with
community business members and potential employers.

A key message to attendees was
that persistence in rising to the challenges of both business and life are
important both academically and personally. With that in mind, the guest speakers
all had a common theme – overcoming adversity in order to accomplish a goal.

It was an opportunity for the
speakers to pass on words of wisdom and lessons that the students will take
with them as they prepare for their next journey in life.

Lisa McInnes-Smith – sports psychologist

Lisa McInnes-Smith is a sports
psychologist who specialises in raising the performance of individuals. With
more than 25 years’ experience connecting with people from all aspects of life,
Lisa knows what it take for people to change – whether it be their attitude,
behaviour or direction of their life. Lisa told the audience that there are
many things that can help you change the direction of your life if you think
you need to do so. Lisa’s two main points were:

If you change your language you can change
your world

What you throw out (what you give out) will
always come back to you.

James Castrission – kayaked across the Tasman Sea

James Castrission, who along with
his friend Justin Jones, kayaked across the Tasman Sea from Sydney to Auckland.
He told a captivated audience how it took four years of careful planning and
risk management to make sure that the crossing went as smoothly as possible.
However, even the best preparation didn’t stop things going wrong. As well as
being hit by a storm, the duo became trapped in a current for almost two weeks
whereby they were literally paddling on the spot. So they stopped paddling, reassessed
the situation and decided to paddle back a hundred kilometres and use the current
as a slingshot to take them out of their predicament. It worked. Once the
journey was over they sat down and looked at the lessons learned. The four main
points were:

you need to build a great team;

you have to test and trial your
ideas;

you need to execute your ideas
well; and

you have to celebrate the
victory when you succeed.

Tony Mowbray – sailed
around the world solo

Another speaker was sailor Tony Mowbray. He had a dream to
sail in the Sydney to Hobart race in 1998. Little did he know that the race
would have some of the worst weather conditions ever experienced in the annual regatta.
Cyclonic gales and waves that reached as
high as 60 made for 15 hours of a terrifying life-and-death struggle. The race
ended up costing six people their lives. Although rattled by the experience,
Tony set himself another challenge – to sail around the world solo. It took him
a long time to prepare, but he successfully completed the goal in seven months.

Similar to James and Justin, Tony said that if you have a
problem that is going to be a roadblock to your endgame, you have to come up
with a different plan. This may mean going off course from your goal and
heading in the other direction to achieve your ambition.

There are five motivational words that Tony uses whenever he
thinks about his next adventure:

Dreams – what are you going to
do? What’s your dream?

Think – research what is
required to achieve your dream.

Talk – share your dreams with
someone talk about them.

Commit – make the commitment to
your dream.

Act – put your dream into
action.

Tony’s last two pieces of advice were:

Success is out there waiting
for you but you have to get it for yourself. It’s not going to come to you.

When you set a goal you have to
be 100 percent committed, and with 100 percent commitment, you will achieve
it.

Major Matina Jewell
(retired) – most decorated woman soldier in the Australian ArmyMajor Matina
Jewell (retired) has had a colourful and prestigious military career. Having
enlisted in the armed forced at just 17, Matina rose up the ranks quickly. She
has accomplished a lot in the armed forces including being Head of the Ship’s
Army Department for two years aboard HMAS Kanimbla, then Australia’s largest
warship – at just 23 years of age.

Matina’s career ended abruptly during her service in Lebanon.
She was in charge of a convoy when she was thrown into the bullet-proof window
of a tank, breaking her back in five places. Days later, the base where Martina
had been staying was bombed, with four fellow servicemen dying, leaving their
wives and families grieving.

Throughout Major Matina’s war service, she frequently was discriminated
against, working in a male-oriented field, but she managed to rise above
obstacles put in her way. Her lessons for potential leaders included:

Delegation – don’t be afraid to hand out tasks.

Communication – make sure the whole team is on
the same page and has the same mind set and goals.

Know your team – you have to know who is best at
what so you are able to use everyone to their best ability.